Senior Maoist leader arrested in Palamu

HT Correspondent,
Daltonganj

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Updated: Mar 11, 2014 15:55 IST

The police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) arrested a senior Maoist leader from Taal village in Palamu district late on Sunday night. Based on his revelations, the forces have later recovered a huge cache arms, including hand grenades, and arrested a villager suspected to be safekeeping them for the Maoists. The police identified the arrested person as 30-year-old Ankit Yadav alias Girender Yadav, a sub-zonal Maoist commander wanted by both Jharkhand and Bihar police. Ramesh, Palamu superintendent of police, said, “A joint operation by the police and CRPF was launched near Taal village based on an intelligence input that Yadav was planning to move towards Panki to join a group of Maoists camping there.He was arrested on his way to the village, the SP added.During interrogation, he informed the police about the locations of some arms and ammunitions acquired by the rebel group. He said the team raided the hideout in Dumarkharn village under Panki police station and recovered 76 country-made hand grenades, 70 pieces of detonators, safety fuses, electric wires, surgical threads and two kinds of explosive powders, weighing up to 3kgs.Besides, the police also arrested a villager, Shaheed Ansari, and seized 76 rounds of AK-47 bullets, suspected to be kept under his custody. However, the police have not confirmed if he has any link with the Maoists.“The grenades were kept in six containers, which were three feet below the ground,” Ramesh said. “We will send the explosive powder to forensic laboratory for examination,” he added.